Three weeks ago our beloved cat Mick came down with aspiration pneumonia. We rushed him to the vet where he was hospitalized so he could be on oxygen and under professional supervision as he fought to recover. Unable to afford 24hr ICU hospitalization but wanting to give him the best shot he had at recovering, we were lucky to have our vet nearby with the capability to provide care during office hours for his first few days when he needed it the most. In the evenings we would bring him home and take shifts nursing him throughout the night. He slowly but surely started to recover and to our relief we got him through the first week. The following Monday he was showing significant progress with his lungs, but we knew we weren’t out of the woods yet. His breathing had improved a lot from the first week and a blood test that following Thursday morning even showed his affected organs beginning to normalize. Our hope for his recovery grew stronger as he grew stronger. We were so happy to see him pulling through while continuing to be extra cautious knowing there was still a long journey ahead before we had our Mickey Moose back to 100%.

Later that Thursday evening, Mick had a small coughing and wheezing incident so we took him back to the vet when they reopened. They treated him in-office but his breathing was still labored. Friday night when the office closed, we brought Mick home again with additional meds and an inhaler. We were ready to nurse him through another weekend. Unfortunately this time, his lungs progressively got worse even on oxygen, steroids, antibiotics and bronchial meds. There was nothing more we could do or give him except love and comfort. We had a wonderful vet team who helped in every way they could through this whole journey; calling to check in on him when they were out of the office and off the clock and discounting costs wherever possible. We were all rooting for him to pull through but the second attack on his lungs was just too much. Saturday morning we had to say goodbye to our buddy.

Born into the hands of James’s sister Nicole, Mickey was a such a gentle soul. A sweetheart cat who seemed more like a dog most days. He greeted us at the door, was always looking for food and just wanted to hang out wherever we were. Every person who met him, adored him. We miss him terribly. It’s been difficult learning to live life without his constant presence. He brought us so much joy and we are forever grateful to have loved him his entire 8 years of life.

As we mourn his loss, we are faced with a substantial bill from his two weeks of care. It took us a while to accept that we needed to ask for help. It’s hard to ask for money as we know everyone struggles but even though we both work full time jobs and do side work wherever we can, the debt is just more than we can pay in the small window credit care has given us to pay it off without gaining massive interest. We are asking you to consider giving what you can. We do not expect to meet our entire goal but every little bit helps as we navigate these next couple months. We appreciate you taking the time to read Mick’s story and ask, if you can, please share this link with others. Any contribution, whether monetary or sharing this gofundme on socials will help lessen the burden. We are truly grateful for all of you.

Sincerely,

Missy and James